April 8, 2011

Is it clear that Barry Bonds would have a 15-21 months guideline range?

This brief AP report about the Bonds case includes this sentencing tidbit: "If convicted on any of the charges, federal guidelines recommend a prison sentence of between 15 and 21 months, though Bonds' punishment could be far less severe." I am pleased to see a press report that seeks to go beyond just noting the broad statutory sentencing ranges for the charged offenses, but I wonder how the AP can so confidently report that Bonds will be looking at a guideline range of 15-21 months if convicted on any of the charges.

I am not asserting that the AP guideline calculation is obviously wrong. But I am eger to hear from practitioners about (a) whether a different guideline calculation is reasonably possible, and (b) whether the AP ought to be reporting with such confidence that the guidelines would recommend a prison sentence of between 15 and 21 months.

Comments

As the story about crack sentencing just after this one illustrates, it doesn't make a particle of difference what the guideline range is, since in the post-Booker/Kimbrough/Gall/Spears world, the judge can do whatever he wants. I supposed judges will still have to respect statutory minimums (unless you're Jack Weinstein), but short of that, this is the anything-goes world.

And that's fine for defendants, as long as you get before a Nancy Gertner type. But she's not the only type there is.

In a roulette world, sometimes you wins and sometimes you loses. It's not my idea of justice, but I didn't have a vote.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 8, 2011 3:20:32 PM

The Bonds case shows where the priorities of the US Government is. Gas is heading to $4 a gallon, we are talking about a government shutdown, closing the national parks. But we find a way to spend the money to put Bonds on trial. Have we lost our minds? Where is our priorities?

The system is broken, the people trying this case add nothing to society. No a single person cares if Barry Bonds took steroids. It means nothing to the average americans everyday life yet our useless government presses forward

CRAZY

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